Step Two Onward
by Jaely
Summary: This story is a continuation of the story "Step One". This story is in Quinn's POV and now has a defined pairing which is why it is has been started as it's own story, but it would be helpful to have read "Step One" first as this story takes place right after the events of that story. FaBerry endgame, w/ PezBerry undertones woven in and around the story. Warning: Pregnant!Rachel


_**A/N: **Hi everyone. I have decided to post this not as a second chapter but as separate story as it is in a completely different 'voice' than Step One was in. I wanted everyone to really understand that at this point in the story it's from Quinn's Point of View of the world and that the end pairing will be FaBerry. I'm sure those that have been reading Done Pretending they will notice that this story has shorter chapters. Yes that will more than likely be the norm for this story, and will most likely end much sooner than DP will as well._

_I am still open to pairings for Santana, Kurt, and Puck so please give me your feed back. If nothing interesting comes forth then I will go with what I have been leaning towards. And no I will not hint at that you will have to just read it as you go along. :) As to how often I will update, who knows... I'm sorry to say, that my health is very much up in the air, which is why it's been taking me a long time to get things out and I've taken to just editing things I have already mostly finished just to prove to everyone I'm still here. I will not give up on my other stories so please bare with me as I wade through my health and hopefully get better and more able to write more regularly. Until then I hope you all will enjoy these stories I have been hiding on my Dropbox for years in some cases._

_**As always the legal disclaimer: **I don't own Glee or anything that is owned by anyone else that is in this story. I am only borrowing them for the free entertainment of myself and others._

_~Enjoy_

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Step Two

by: _Jaely_

The confrontation went pretty much as Santana had laid it out for me when she brought the plan to my attention. It was slightly shocking that it went so well considering most of Santana's plans were only ever thought out in a half-ass vague sorta way. So this plan going off so well made me even more invested in the next step to helping Rachel. Not that I wouldn't have done everything in my power to help the beautiful diva anyway. It's just nice to not have to rework a complex plan on the fly because it all falls apart barely into the first step of it.

When I had opened my dorm room door to find Santana pushing herself into my room, a few days ago, I was slightly panicked that she was upset with me that I hadn't really spoken with her since Mr. Shue's almost wedding. Then I realized it had only been a little more than a week so that couldn't have been what upset the Latina. I mean I had really needed the time to figure things out about how I felt after sleeping with her. I told her that it was only an experiment and that it was a one – well two – time thing, but the truth was, it set my soul as well as my body on fire.

It wasn't the fact that I was in love with Santana or anything, I mean I do love her she is my best friend, but that's not what sent me for a loop. It was how touching and being touched by a woman made me feel. I needed to work that out in my head. I've known I had attractions to other women in the past and still do. The biggest recurring attraction happens to be Rachel Barbra Berry, but she is more than that. I love her. I didn't fully and completely except that until recently, thanks in part to sleeping with Santana.

I had always had a draw to the tiny diva. She set me on fire from the first time we ever interacted with each other. She challenged me in ways no one else ever has or could. I know this sounds really strange considering how I treated her all through high school, but it's true. I started to work it out when Rachel helped me find myself again after Shelby and Beth came back into my life. I even thought I was ready to try and woo her too. Not right then but when I was going to tell her about getting into Yale I was going to see if I could woo – or whatever – her from Finn.

Then it came to just trying to get her to not make the biggest mistake she could make at that point in time. I couldn't let her marry Finn no matter if she could return my feelings or not. Finn would have just held her back and that would just be a crime. After that, everything just got derailed and I had given up. Then life hit me – literally – again. I had to put everything I was feeling for Rachel on the back burner and just get my life back on track again. As painful as it was being put in that wheelchair it did help me be stronger in the long run. Not to mention my accident ended up pulling the plug on the wedding and I'm happy to say that Finn finally – at least at the time – figured out Rachel would be better off without him.

I had to admit that I took a bit of a detour when I got to Yale, and ended up getting involved with a much older Professor, trying once again to fit the mold I was brought up believing I should fit in to. Thanks to Santana I was able to get my barrings back and dump his sorry ass and focus back on the important things in my life again and not let my life be ruled by my past and upbringing any longer, just because my asshole of a father was trying to get back into my mother's life again didn't mean I needed to try and let him tear me back down again. It didn't mean I have to be that girl anymore, and if my mother wanted to let him back into her life didn't mean I had to do the same. I had a full ride to any school of my choice, plus full access to the college trust fund that my grandmother had left in my name, now that I was attending college and eighteen years old. There was nothing my father could do to jeopardize my future if he didn't like who I was now that I was away from Lima and on my own. Simply put my father's views just didn't matter anymore, I was free of him forever.

Just after Santana had got into my dorm room and dropped her bag she had started to mumble and pace, moving back and forth – the very short distance – between my bed and my desk, immediately. It took me at least a good half and hour after that to get Santana focused enough to get the full story as to why she had come to New Haven in the middle of the night. Followed quickly by her fears about Brody, the guy that Rachel was not only living, but also sleeping with. I have to admit that bit of information hurt. I have always had a hard time hearing or seeing Rachel with other people, but it's not like I have a claim on the girl so I had to deal with it.

This time I fortunately don't have to just grin and bare it, as I did in the past. If Santana was right then this Body guy has royally fucked up and has not only been putting Rachel at risk with his side occupation but also gotten her pregnant, and that pissed me off. I have to admit that it was a bit shocking that Rachel let herself get put into the position to get pregnant in the first place, but I have to say I placed even more of the blame on this Brody guy than Rachel for the pregnancy. He should have never had sex with her without a condom on with what he was doing for money. If he even had an ounce of care or _true_ affection for her he wouldn't have put her in that kind of risk in the first place.

It took the next two hours for Santana to lay out her plan. There was some holes here and there that I helped her plug, but it was pretty much all Santana's idea. I agreed with her that Finn had to be kept in the dark, besides the timing wasn't right that the baby could be Finn's anyway. Though that didn't mean that Finn wouldn't try and talk Rachel into marrying him so he could help her raise the baby. That would not happen if Santana and I got our way. If Finn got involved he would convince her to go back to Lima and she wouldn't get to have her dream and there was no way that either Santana or I would allow that to happen if it was within our power to prevent.

Rachel had help and she didn't need anyone else to come in and fuck everything up for her. She needed to get through this and move on with her life and her still rock her dreams. Whether Rachel choose to keep the baby after it was born or not, we would help her to make her dreams come true. Rachel would have both Santana and I, not to mention Kurt to help her through this. Santana was right she could still finish NYADA, she just might have to take the fall term off. It was all very do able it would just take some planning and some level headed thinking, which I know for a fact is hard to do when all you can think about is trying to keep your head above water and make it to the next day after finding out your pregnant. Which is where Santana and I come in, we will help her think more clearly and see that she doesn't have to feel like she's drowning anymore.

As a matter of fact, I had already put in my application for Columbia, before Christmas, for the early admissions for the fall term. I am happy to say that I was accepted. I had planed on moving up here – to New York – when I realized I needed and _wanted_ my friends closer to me. Rachel and Kurt, were the closest ones to a University that had an amazing drama program. Finding out Santana was living with them only sweetened the deal. I still wanted to duel major in Drama and Literature so Columbia seemed to be the best fit after Yale. With my standings at Yale and the play I was in at the end of last term I got a full ride to Columbia if I wanted it.

I didn't tell anyone yet because I hadn't made my final decision, but now I was here to not only help Rachel move on from the man-whore, but to tour the campus and officially accept their offer as well. I would be finishing my eight week abbreviated term at Yale, Wednesday of next week, after I finished my final exam in my last class. I plan to ask to stay with Rachel and Kurt until I can move into the dorms over the summer. Thankfully I've been allowed to take on a tutoring position as part of the Literature Grant, once I accept, that should allow me to contribute to the house hold funds a bit more so that I can keep from tapping into my trust and save that for my dorm costs.

I've not gotten the chance to talk to anyone about my plans yet, as I wasn't going to let anyone know until spring break when I had planned to have an apartment to move into by then. I have my dorm at Yale paid for already, so there was no rush in moving out, even though I'd only taken enough classes to keep my dorm available to me. Now though I don't plan on leaving Rachel to do this on her own, even though Santana will be around, she doesn't know what Rachel will be going through like I will. So I will just ask to stay with them until Rach is doing a bit better then I will move into the dorms.

Now that it was all done and we were able to make sure that man-whore would leave Rachel alone we move back to the room that Santana, Puck, and I were staying at, which was in the same hotel, just a floor up from the room that we were just in. As I walked in behind Santana I pull my hair back into a messy bun, then pulled off my jacket and scarf laying them both over the back of one of the chairs. I really wanted to change but at the moment we needed to first see to Puck's hands and make sure we were set for the second part of our plan first. Kurt should be arriving shortly and I didn't want to miss anything just because I felt the need to change clothes.

When I turned my attention back to the others I noticed Puck pacing back and forth his agitation still obvious. He had been still holding out that there was something else going on with this Brody guy, even up to when we both had heard Brody's voice as he greeted Santana. I know he had to contain his anger in that bathroom, hell we both did, but he had to be in there alone and longer than I did. Frankly, I was surprised he didn't just haul off and hit the man when he came out of the bathroom – the plan be damned. I know I wanted to when I heard my cue to revel myself, but he didn't and that made me proud of him.

I let him pace a little bit longer as I move to the suite's bathroom and grab two washcloths and wet them down with cold water. I could hear both Puck and Santana still bad-mouthing the man-whore in the suite but I kept quiet. I said my piece and that fucker was irrelevant to me now, the only thing I was focused on now, was how to help Rachel. I walked back out to see that Puck had finally taken a seat on the couch his hands just dangling over their perch on his knees. I could see from here that they were bleeding sluggishly and made my way to sit next to him.

Just as I picked up Puck's closest hand and started to lightly press the damp cloth to his bleeding knuckles there was a knock on the door. "Right on time." Santana said as I looked to her from my spot on the couch dabbing absently at Puckerman's knuckles. Puck hissed and flinched for a second bringing my attention back on to what I was doing. I whispered a soft apology as I gentled my touch on the knuckle the cloth was on right at that moment.

"Come on in Kurt we just got back in." I hear Santana speak after she opened the door. I knew he would be coming to meet us. This was the start of step two in this. We needed Kurt to be on broad as he was going to get us into the apartment right after Rachel headed to class in the morning.

"I got here as soon as I could get away without Rachel getting suspicious as to why I was leaving." Kurt responded as he walked in, I could hear his voice get closer until he was by the couch, then I heard him sigh in resignation. "So it ended up being true..." He stated simply as he sat down on the other side of Puck, on the couch, setting down a bucket of ice on the narrow coffee table and pulled out a few small zipper bags from inside his coat pocket setting them on the table next to it. "I thought if it came to blows that these might be needed." He continued as he then picked up the other cold damp washcloth draped over my knee along with Puckerman's other hand and mirrored my actions. "So it was true then? He was not dealing drugs, but himself?" Kurt finally asked not taking his eyes from Puck's other injured hand.

I know this is hitting him hard, he liked the guy, Brody, for the most part. He did think he was a bit of a user, but better for Rachel than Finn was, which I gotta say was a bit relief, and had this guy been legit I might have liked him somewhat too. "He won't hurt my Jew Babe again." Puck answered in a half growl, half snarl. "The fucking asshole thought we would just let him continue on just because he claims to love her... The fucker doesn't know what love is otherwise he wouldn't be doing that shit while being with her." Puck continued, he needed to get it out I think. He was mostly silent until now. He is normally a trash talker when he's mad but both Santana and I pretty much drilled it in when we got him here for this operation that he couldn't spout off because it could backfire on them and we needed things to go smoothly so we could help Rachel through this.

Santana was surprisingly quiet as she listened, just using a cup she found to dip out some of the crushed ice into the zipper bags that Kurt brought with him. I knew it was my job to do the talking really but Puck needed to vent and Kurt already knew of the plan in regards to Brody. Now we needed to tell him the other reason we are taking the course that we are. Normally I would say that it should be Rachel's decision to revel her condition to Kurt, as they were best friends, but due to the circumstances and the fact that he might let it slip and tell Finn, I thought it would be best to tell him and make sure he kept quiet about it until we got Rachel to tell him herself even if he would technically already know.

I take one of the bags that Santana had filled and wrap the cloth around it then gently settle it over the hand that I had been cleaning up tucking the ends up into his palm and setting his hand down on his lap. "Yes Kurt it all turned out to be true." I say after Puck just slumped back again and closed his eyes, his throat bobbing as he settled his emotions. "We all heard it from his own mouth that he didn't want us to tell Rachel, and well he showed up after we called the service to request him in that hotel room." I continued sighing softly.

"We can't... Not yet I mean. I know, or well I'm assuming you guys got him to leave her alone and that he is going to move out, which I'm totally with you on but... we can't tell her why he's leaving." Kurt said quickly as he followed my lead with Puck's other injured hand.

"Why the fuck not, dude?!" "I'm not sure I understand," and "We gotta tell her." all came out from Puck, myself, and Santana respectively just after the words left Kurt's mouth. I think we were all stunned that Kurt wanted to keep this all a secret. Well maybe not Santana by the look on her face. She seemed to be following Kurt's thought if not agreeing with it. I think she neglected to tell me something or didn't think it was important at the time.

"Okay, listen... I know what is going on is important but Rachel will not handle this all that well once it comes to light and she _needs_ to be on the top of her game for the next few weeks, guys! The fact that Brody is going to just disappear and break up with her is going to be hard enough, but to tell her that he is a-a _gigolo_, and he was doing that all right under her nose, will devastate her!" Kurt's voice got higher the more he tried to convince us of why we shouldn't tell her right now, and then it clicked, at least for me. Santana I'm guessing already figured it out with Kurt's first statement, but Puck was still angry and confused, just glaring at Kurt.

I set my hand on Puck's shoulder as I stated what was going through my head. It wasn't really a question as I was sure I was right, "The Funny Girl auditions start next week." Puck's eyes snapped to me then to Santana and finally to Kurt to see him nod in confirmation of my statement. "Be as that may, Kurt there is more to what is going on than just Brody being a prostitute." I continued. I understood where he was coming from but Rachel needed to know because she had to see that Brody didn't deserve to be relied upon. She would never stand for a boyfriend of her's, let alone a father to her child, working as a prostitute. I look at Kurt in the eyes as I go onto this next part.

"Kurt, what I'm going to say has to stay a secret until Rachel tells you herself. The only reason I'm bring this up now is because we need to make sure you do _not_ tell Finn." Kurt's eyebrows shot to his hair line at my last statement, but he remained quiet and listened. "Kurt, Rachel's pregnant, and you and I know that if Finn finds out before Rachel can figure out that she doesn't have to have the baby on her own or with _some man_ taking care of her, he will come in and try and bring her back to Lima. We can't let that happen. Rachel can still follow her dream with or without keeping this baby, she just will need us to help her see that." I say the next part with complete conviction. I firmly believed everything I was telling him at that moment in time. Finn is toxic for Rachel and there was nothing anyone could tell me that would convince me otherwise. He's a good man, and has some great qualities, but he's not right for Rachel and what she wants for the rest of her life and that's why he's toxic for her.

Kurt just blew out a breath of air like he was just punched in the gut. I felt sorry for the guy, because not only was this all a really huge surprise for him, but Rachel didn't tell him and that had to hurt. "Kurt, Rachel's scared, _really_ scared, Kurt. The only reason we know is because San saw the home pregnancy test last week, then took her to the clinic to confirm it." I try and sooth the man's hurt feelings.

"Then why didn't she tell me after she found out it was true?" Kurt whispered softly his fingers fidgeting with the hem of Puck's baggy shirt as he was still sitting sideways on the couch and the other man's shirt was right by his hands. I reach over Puck and rest my hand over his and gave it a little squeeze in comfort as Santana piped up, before I could continue.

"Because, she is lying to not only herself, but to everyone else about it right now. She told me, when she came out from her appointment, that it was a false alarm – but I didn't believe her – she was still acting strangely, so that night I found the print out with her test result on it; it confirmed that she is pregnant, Kurt." Santana explained fully. I really couldn't blame Rachel for her denial. I did the same thing for over a week and a half when I found out I was pregnant.

"She's in denial Kurt. I did the same thing when I found out about Beth. She scared and she most likely thinks her dreams are over. Now that I connect the dots I'm sure it has something to do with the auditions too. I think she wants to believe she's not pregnant so she can still try for this role." I tell him. I know he will understand a bit better now that I laid it out for him in this way. It was something he could understand and relate to.

He sighed and nodded his eyes a bit distant as he thought for a moment. "I understand, I wish she would have told me but I get it. I think you're right Quinn, she wants this chance. It's a once in a life time opportunity. I think she has a good shot at it too." Kurt finally says when his eyes focus back on me. "Even though she is pregnant she can still do this role. It does open until December, just in time for the holiday season. She would only have to miss out on a month or so of rehearsals, if that. I mean, you were preforming up until you literally popped, Quinn! And then returned to school not even a week later, almost looking like you never had a kid. She could still do this right?" Kurt continued his voice nearly pleading with us to confirm his thoughts as he wanted this for his best friend so badly.

"I don't know Kurt. It's very well possible that the producers might let her get and keep the role since she will more than likely have her baby at some point in October or November. Unfortunately every woman's pregnancy is different and she might need longer after she gives birth than I did, but knowing how she takes care of herself, there is a good chance she might be able to return to rehearsals as well as lose the weight she needs, before the show opens." I tell him even as I ponder the idea. Part of the reason I didn't really gain a lot of extra weight, I had to lose, during my pregnancy was because I wasn't eating very well throughout it. But it is possible with a very balanced diet and exercise Rachel could keep her weight gain down to a minimum so that she could still have a healthy pregnancy with minimum weight gain. Which might allow her to lose enough of the baby weight so that she could be much closer to her natural weight by the time the show was to open. Though I think she would need to tell her producers and directors that she is pregnant after she got the role and let them make that call.

Yes I did think she would get the role, whether they would keep her on after they found out she is pregnant I didn't know, but with her talent they might just keep her because she will have already had the baby by the time it really mattered. I was dancing and preforming complex dance routines all the way up to when Beth was born. Granted I did give premature birth nearly a full two months early but that was more due to my age and that I didn't take very good care of myself than the fact I had been so active. "It is doable Kurt. I think with the right encouragement from us and a solid support system she can do the role if they give her the chance. And we believe she can still continue on with NYADA next spring only needing to take off the fall semester or maybe leaving off dance classes for the fall semester if NYADA will allow it. We just have to convince her that everything is not over just because of this." I continue on with my thoughts on the subject.

Kurt nodded his agreement to everything I had said so far. Now he just needed to fully understand the bigger picture. Rachel has to know why Brody is leaving her, because she will try to figure it out on her own and that means seeking the man-whore out and there was just too big a possibility that he would tell her something that would hurt her in a completely different way just to cover his ass, and that could lead her to telling him to soon about the baby. I've little doubt after getting confirmation of what Brody was doing for money that he would not want to be saddled with a kid. He would tear Rachel apart emotionally to get away from that responsibility and that would lead her right back to Finn. No... I could not let that happen. Rachel had to know and she had to find out from us. The sooner the better, and once it was over we could help her move on from it so she could rock the Funny Girl auditions.

"I know you're worried about Rachel's Funny Girl audition Kurt, and so am I, but there is a bigger picture that we are trying to avoid right now." Kurt looked at me with a bit of confusion in his eyes. I'm sure he was trying to work out what he had missed. For all he was Rachel's best friend, there was still so much he didn't truly realize about how Rachel worked. I've spent way too much time learning about Rachel Berry's personality quarks. Having an unwanted attraction to someone can make you be a bit obsessive about them at times, but I have to admit it comes in handy now. "Kurt, I know Finn is your brother and everything, and over all, he is a good guy and we love him in our own way, but he is a huge problem for Rachel."

"I don't understand Quinn. I mean I do understand that it's best not to tell him about Rachel being pregnant, because he would try and get her to marry him again and that is just so not right for her, but I don't see how telling Rachel about Brody now will bring Finn into the picture if none of us tell him." Kurt reasoned, and he would have a valid point if Rachel wasn't who she is.

"I know Kurt, but you need to think about how Rachel is. I know she has changed somewhat, but I can guarantee you that if no one tells Rachel about why Brody is leaving her _she_ will persist with Brody until he tells her some lie as to avoid telling her the truth once he realizes we didn't tell her as well to avoid another beat down we promised him if he tried anything thing with her again. After that Rachel will more than likely tell him that she is pregnant, to get him to stay with her. That man will not want a child, Kurt. There is no doubt in my mind about that, after what you and Santana told me about him. He can barely keep himself afloat and he's doing that by selling his body. No, he will tear her down and Rachel will be so broken by it that she will tell Finn, herself, that she is pregnant; just so she can feel like she has someone to help her and want her. No matter how much Rachel has changed in her appearance and demeanor, _that_ is still a core factor in who Rachel is, Kurt." I explained in order to convince Kurt of our reasonings for telling her now and not waiting for later.

Kurt sighed and leaned to the side on the couch to rest his head on the back cushions as he closed his eyes. "This is a mess. I hate to say it but you're right..." He seemed to collapse in on himself for a few seconds then opened his eyes to look at me again. "How are we going to work this then?" he asked as she sat back up, and I couldn't help but smile because I knew we now had Kurt on our side. Time for step three.

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_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope to have the next chapter out as soon as I can. Please please, let me know what you all think._

_~Jae_


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